First and foremost, praises and thanks to the God, the Almighty, for His showers of blessings and His guidance throughout my carrom journey and helping me to achieve various milestones despite obstacles and adversities. I owe my success, small or big, to the Almighty.

It was because of my family I could get the strength to grow, take chances and perform successfully. I knew my family members were always behind me at every step of my journey. They cheered me on and pushed me even when I wanted to give up. I am extremely grateful to my parents for their love, prayers and caring. I am very much thankful to my wife Sheetal and my sons Gaurav & Saurabh for their understanding, prayers, sacrifices and continuous support in performing my carrom journey effectively.

I express my deep and sincere gratitude to three Presidents of the All India Carrom Federation I worked with, Mr. Arekapudi Subba Rao, Mr. Sarabjit Singh, IPS and Mr. J.P. Agarwal, M.P. for their generous support, wise counsel and sympathetic ears. I was both thrilled and honoured when Mr. Subba Rao proposed my name as a unanimous choice for the post of General Secretary of the Federation. His confidence in me and my abilities was greatly appreciated. I sincerely express my thanks to Mr. Subba Rao for his understanding, guidance and support. Mr. A.Subba Rao and Mr. Sarabjit Singh chaired mostly all Federation meetings during their tenures and guided me appropriately particularly on critical matters. Inspirational guidance of Mr. J.P. Agarwal was unique. Their dynamism, vision, sincerity and motivation deeply inspired me.

Although all the three Presidents were generous in their support and guidance, I would like to take the liberty to single out Mr. J.P. Agarwal and thank him for his out of the box support in achieving several accolades for carrom. His support and motivation was exemplary and voluntary. Mr. Agarwal never hesitated to take me personally to Lok Sabha Speaker, Ministers, President of IOA and VIPs or officials or Chairmen of PSUs or to speak to them on phone soliciting their support for promotion of carrom. I express my special gratitude to Mr. Agarwal for arranging felicitation of Indian players in President House, felicitating carrom World Champions, other senior and & junior players in Parliament House and for hosting formal meetings of the Federation in Parliament House.

I cannot forget late Mr. Ashok Sharma who in fact brought me to carrom administration in 1985. His dynamism and dedication inspired me. His futuristic vision and innovative ideas for carrom were impressive. It was Ashok who gave me the platform to perform and grow. I am unable to find appropriate words to thank him except to express my sincere gratitude from the core of my heart. He deserves bigger thanks.

It is hard to put into words exactly how thankful I am to late Mr. Krishan K. Sharma of U.K., Mr. B. Bangaru Babu of India, late Mr. Zahir Naseer of Maldives and Mr. Arif Naqvi of Germany for their guidance and support. It was a great privilege and honour to work at international level under their leadership. I learnt many things from late Mr. Krishan who not only had a great vision and innovative ideas but also was an excellent motivator. I sincerely express my gratitutde to the Presidents and Secretaries of National Federations of different countries for their understanding and support during my long journey in International Carrom Federation. Their patient and cooperative approach was really blessing to me. I appreciate their co-operation.

I was blessed with so many amazing role models to look up to, with handful of advices and the ability to spread my wings and fly off into the world. I would particularly quote two such role models, Mr. S.S. Prasad, IAS and Mr. Ratan Singh, IRS. Their inspiration and generous support became my strength. There was never a time I couldn’t count on them. However, let me make a special mention and appreciation of Mr. Ratan Singh for his voluntary support and help in organising various international and national carrom events. I was lucky to have him besides me. I express my sincere gratitude to both of them for their friendship, empathy and support during my carrom journey.

My sincere gratitude are also due to Mr. Asit Singh, IRS; Mr. Ashok Mittal, IRS and Mr. M.K. Gandhi. They supported me greatly and were always willing to help me. Their willingness to give time so generously is very much appreciated. I express my grateful thanks to them. Similar was the case with Mr. Vijay Kamble, former MLA and late Mr. Vijay Tulpule, Senior Advocate both from Mumbai.

I express my immense thanks to Office-bearers of the Federation, State Secretaries & Presidents of State Associations & Associate Members and other friends for their unwavering support and encouragement. I would like to thank all my colleagues for believing in my abilities. They showed me patience instead of anger, guidance instead of annoyance and understanding instead of intolerance. Working with them was a great learning experience for me. I really value their knowledge and insight. Without their help, it would not have been possible for me to achieve unparalleled success. Credit for accomplishments goes to them for their working together with positivity, dedication, pride and loyalty, to grow the game despite adversities. Even though we had some differences and didn’t agree on everything, I want to thank them for being open-minded persons. I received a great deal of support and assistance from each and every one of them. I cannot thank them enough for the support they extended over the last three decades. I appreciate the role of these real carrom heroes and thank them from the bottom of my heart. A wish for them -

"What goes around, comes around – I don’t know if this really happens but if it does, you are going to have a lot of success in your professional life, because that is what you have helped me to get. Thank you."

I would like to express my special thanks to late Mr. R.K. Tandon and Mr. P. Raveendran from whom I learnt many technical aspects of the game and Laws of Carrom. During Senior National Championship held at Ambernath (Maharashtra) in 1993 I spent several nights discussing profoundly with Mr. Raveendran various controversial carrom laws. Mr. P. Raveendran and Mr. S. Udaya Kumar extended their unstinting support and help particularly in taking care of technical aspects of all Federation events. Their support was exemplary and services selfless. I express my grateful thanks to both of them. Likewise, I was lucky to have the guidance and unparalleled support of an Olympic official, Mr. Rupak Debroy of Tripura. His several tips on administrative and strategical issues proved useful to me. I express my heartfelt but special thanks to him. I also put on record my thanks to Mr. Khurshid Khan who officiated as Treasurer with me for three terms and Mr. Bharat Bhushan who officiated as Treasurer with me for one term, for their support. I appreciate their cooperation. Contribution of all my colleagues was invaluable and they became my support system. I acknowledge their wonderful collaboration.

My sincere thanks are also due to Assistant Secretary, Mr. M. Sharan for his assistance, help and support in running the Federation office. I appreciate his enthusiastic efforts and indefatigable cooperation. I convey my grateful thanks to Mr. Mohd Iqbal and appreciate his assiduous support. Thank you Iqbal for caring and supporting me wholeheartedly.I would like to make a special mention of Late Mr. M.D Pandey who became an inspirational force. I admire and appreciate his voluntary but fleeting support. I express my gratitude to Mr. Mahender Sharma, Mr. Binay Kumar Sinha,Late Mr. JV Sangam and Mr. Pinto Mukherjee for their help and dedicated support without holding any position in the Federation.

My gratitude is due to all office-bearers of the Haryana Carrom Association and District Associations particularly the members of the Faridabad District Carrom Association. It was only because of their support and cooperation I could perform my long carrom journey. I express my appreciation and thanks to Mr. S.S. Prasad, IAS (Retd), President of the Association, Mr. Naresh Sharma, Secretary of the Association and former Secretaries Mr. Arun Arora & Mr. Gurinder Singh and former Joint Secretary Ms. Kamna Yadav for their guidance and support. Dedication and sincerity of officials of Faridabad District Carrom Association who successfully organized about ten national level events always remained praiseworthy. I appreciate and congratulate all of them.

I would like to mention specifically the name of International Coach, Mr. Arun Deshpande for his support and guidance in helping me to introduce innovative & scientific training methods in coaching camps for national teams and in conducting Training for Trainers courses at national level and in imparting training to junior players at special zonal level camps. Mr. Deshpande was always generous in sparing his time for discussions and conducting camps. I appreciate his cooperation and generous support. I express my sincere gratitude to him. I also express my grateful thanks to Mr. Suhas Kambli and Mr. Ramesh Chitty, Coaches of international repute for their guidance and support.

I express my deep appreciation and heartfelt thanks to all carrom players for their support and help. I consider myself to be fortunate for having a chance to work with top players of the world. Words seem so inadequate to thank them for their compassion, collaboration, dedication and patient cooperation. I admire their performances and congratulate them on all their victories and success. They are true heroes and I appreciate their sincere hard work and sacrifices more than words can say. Seeing players win so many awards and medals in a row kept my spirits high and continued to raise my level of passion for carrom. I credit them for the success of the Federation and for my own professional growth. I once again express my sincere gratitude to each and every player. I wish them best of luck for the future. May all Indian players keep winning and going up the stairs of success. My prayers are with them. I hope we stay in touch!

I also express my special thanks and appreciation for all carrom Umpires. They are the backbone of all carrom events and force to reckon. I consider myself fortunate to work with best Umpires of the world. I learnt many things from them. People say the Devil works hard. They are wrong. It was our Umpires who worked harder and efficiently. I am proud of them all. I was always left astounded at the level of dedication and hard work they put in every situation. Their hard work never went unnoticed. I congratulate them on doing a great job with tangible and beneficial results. Without their diligence, hard work, late nights and early mornings we wouldn’t have been able to achieve success. Great work! May all Umpires reach every height of success!

I express my special gratitude to Mr. Naresh Kohli of Synco for his generous support in organising several important events. Both Mr. Naresh Kohli and Mr. Manish Kohli were always there in times of troubles. My sincere thanks are also due to late Mr. Mahender Bhalani, late Mr. Arvind Bhalani and Mr. Chirag Bhalani of Precise Industries; late Mr. K.L. Suri of Surco; late Mr. Manoj Suri of Amco; Mr. Salim Lakhani of Diamond Industries; Mr. Kuku Seth of Aar Kay Industries and Mr. Kirit of Ashwin Industries for their help and support.

Here is a small token of my gratitude for all my friends and supporters for being by my side during my carrom journey. I believed in one thing that when I won, they won, and when they won, I won. It didn’t matter who was in my opponents corner, because I knew I was always going to have them in mine, and that was the best asset I could ever ask for. I thank them for standing beside me in the greatest of moments and the darkest of hours. I am sure I would not have made it over the traitorous mountains of obstacles without their support. They have done so much for me over the years, I cannot forget. My gratitude to them is unending.